|
Buying certain property in Florida will lead you to losses!
Searching for independent, impartial advice or a second opinion before
overpaying several hundred thousand Dollars / Pounds for a property in Florida? Want to know where other British buyers have made very costly mistakes buying property in Florida?
A safety check from Florida property expert Andrew Bartlett independent consultant, articles/advice for The Red Guide to buying property in Florida, Florida Magazine, Going to America, Homes Worldwide, Escape Magazine, Place in the Sun, The Sunday Times, The Guardian and advisor on the Florida property market for City investment analysts.
'Many of us have a dream of buying a property somewhere where it is hot and sunny year round, away from the increasing rat race, traffic jams and constant negative headlines that seem to have all become part and parcel of life in Britain. However it can be all too easy to make a mistake buying a property overseas - sadly many Brits have.
For those of you who have decided Florida ticks the key boxes, i.e. sunny, use of English, favourable cost of living etc or are simply looking at the area from an investment perspective, there are often a 101 questions you need to ask.
However discussing the plan with someone who will cover all your points and more in a relaxed informative way without any sales agenda is nigh impossible.
The usual alternatives are to search the web, a guidebook or track someone down at an exhibition. However speaking face to face with someone able to impartially cover all the options and alternatives i.e. which areas work best, (Sarasota, Siesta and Longboat Keys against Naples and Marco Island, Orlando or Fort Lauderdale ), what are the implications of the hidden costs etc can seem impossible. The web can be particularly dangerous, as many sites do not contain all the information you need to make a sound judgement on what to buy, or indeed whether to buy. It is a case of sell! SELL! SELL!
Many times you find you are dealing with sales people with a specific agenda, i.e. to sell you a property in the area they cover, so much for impartial advice!
Well, I write for many of the leading magazines , guides and newspapers about life in Florida, particularly for Brits who have bought in Florida and when over in the UK give briefing sessions to fellow Brits thinking about or indeed planning buying a property, emigration or relocation to the sunshine state. The areas I cover are listed below and the sessions are either at my home/office, or indeed sometimes at clients homes.'
These are the more common mistakes that have been made by Brits buying in Florida. In some cases these mistakes have cost thousands.
- Buying at the wrong time.
|
Many pay considerably over the odds because they take at face value the information given by developers and agents. |
- Buying in the wrong location.
|
A number of companies continue to highlight properties in areas of Florida which are not the best or even particularly good buys. These companies fail to identify properties which are much better investments simply because commission payments are lower. Many of you will probably already have their brochures. |
- Buying on the wrong development
|
A number bought property on developments which were heavily advertised in the UK, some unfortunately buying directly from the builder. Work on those developments has now stopped and monies will be subject to lengthy and uncertain legal dispute. We know where these are! |
- Buying at too high a price.
|
So many Brits look at pricing from a British perspective and believe they are buying a bargain, as prices are often a lot lower than comparable British prices. Unfortunately no one points out the differences to them. |
- Buying certain types of off plan property
|
Many of the clients coming to us for our trouble shooting advice have discovered that the off plan properties they signed up for, are still not constructed months later or have suspect financing arrangements etc. Often they took the advice given to them by the sales agents at face value without obtaining an independent second opinion. |
- Failing to identify the most appropriate experienced, licensed and qualified agent.
|
Given that in America there are over one million licensed estate agents, many of whom work in real estate part time or as a second job and others who are very sales orientated, mistakes in selecting an inappropriate agent are not surprising! The trouble is often when things are taken at face value. |
- Failing to ask the right questions.
|
There are at the present time some very good opportunities for property being sold in excellent locations. Trying to identify this from the UK is very difficult so how do you track it down? |
|
|
On the full implications of property tax, insurances and home inspections. These areas are so rarely understood or explained in full, due to a number of reasons that seem built into the buying system in Florida. This is another area that can make a significant difference in your expenditure. We have found at our property briefing sessions that many clients who have previously bought properties in Florida were not briefed on these areas, and have made costly mistakes. |
- Assuming a course in the UK on property investment will identify the most appropriate investment properties in Florida
|
There are some interesting investigative articles in the newspapers as to why this is certainly not always the case, and rather than buying sound investments end up losing money! |
- Assuming a glossy prospectus, DVD presentation or impressive advertising indicates a substantial company who always put Clients interests first.
|
Sometimes these can be the companies which exert the most pressure on you to buy - after wining and dining you, a favoured ploy is to persuade you that you must buy now before the price goes up - it is often just another sales angle. |
- Believing all the implications of zoning have been discussed
|
They rarely are, often the full implications are not understood or even ignored. |
- Letting a free flight, inspection trip sway your buying decision in Florida.
|
This particular area is a major source of complaint after people have discovered they paid over the market rate for a property .These inspection trips can turn out to be very expensive if you are only shown a few overpriced properties. |
- Not realising the implications of the mortgage they had been sold.
|
Another area where so many Brits are caught out, some have found their payments double after a year. |
- Making the wrong decision on whose name the property should be in.
|
Getting this point wrong is a very common and expensive mistake people make when buying property in America. |
- Assuming that using a title company is sufficient to obtain legal title.
|
This has caught many people out! |
The two fundamental problems for the many Brits buying, selling or emigrating to Florida is they just don’t realise the significance of a system based on commission payments or they decide to do everything themselves.
As a result they do not receive independent advice before committing themselves to spending hundreds of thousands of Pounds. We have seen the implications of these decisions through our troubleshooting service. All too often failing to obtain independent advice at the beginning has led to either failing to identify the best option or unnecessary costs down the road.
Many Brits have found Florida the ideal location for a second or investment home. The problems we are highlighting are avoidable, with correct preparation and advice.
Part of the problem is there are few independent sources to provide this advice.
- Attorneys can obviously cover the legal nitty gritty but are unlikely to provide an in depth overview on locations, property trends, the merits or otherwise of various Real Estate Agents, mortgage brokers etc. The legal side of property transactions in Florida tend often to be via Closing Companies, which often are not Attorneys.
The service of licensed Real Estate Agents is predominantly local; their expertise is generally limited to a specific area so many are unable and often unwilling to provide a wider picture. A lot of training for these agents is focused on selling techniques and many Brits have commented they feel pressurised. Unless agents sell you a house and this includes those acting as Buyers brokers they will not make any money. Therefore they are likely to only paint a positive picture of their area, rather than give you a realistic comparison with neighbouring areas which may be better value,
British Companies often offer specific developments that are sold as being ideal for British clients i.e. near Disney, zoned for renting, specific villas or condo hotels but rarely point out the flip side of such developments or give a wider overview of other options which may offer them less favourable commissions. The implications of this are sadly all to clear on certain Central Florida and Gulf Coast developments at the present time. Click here for an article from The Sunday Times undercover team about this.
Property investment courses – Although the general information on some of these courses can be useful if expensive, problems have been flagged up by a number of people, buying on developments identified on these courses. There can be concerns about the impartiality of the advice given as identified by the Guardian newspaper in recent articles. Click here for The Guardian article
There are several books to choose from – We write for a number; however, many are out of date with their advice by the time they get to publication, particularly in the current volatile market. Importantly many focus on all the advantages but do not provide anything like enough detail on the bear traps. Some take a view that they cannot upset their advertisers and therefore water down the critical comments, which is not much good for people buying the guides to avoid the pitfalls!
It is sometimes assumed that everything you need to know can be found for free on the internet. The problem is it can be impossible to determine how correct that information is and what lies behind it. One of our major areas of consultation relates to troubleshooting after problems have cropped up, which can be very expensive to put right - often it is because the client has tried to do everything themselves.
If you buy or sell property, your agent or buyers broker is generally only paid on a commission basis, no sale no commission. Whether the agent is excellent or not so excellent, if they do not sell their service to you, they do not receive a fee - think about it!
There are very few experts available with in depth experience of the systems in Florida and Britain who can provide a comprehensive, in depth, impartial and no nonsense Consultancy service specifically for British buyers, sellers and would be emigrants.
Buyers Independent Briefing solution
- An independent overview of the Florida
|
The position at the present time, where and what are the best buys ? Where are the dangers? This area has saved several clients from investing in developments which remain unbuilt two years later! |
- Is Florida property really right for you?
|
We look closely at your requirements from an impartial perspective rather than the usual attempts to sell you something. We are the only Company providing this impartial service. |
- What are your various alternatives in Florida?
|
Many of the best ones are rarely pointed out to British buyers, so how do you identify them. There are some excellent locations to buy in the present market but they are often not flagged up due to lower agency commissions. This area alone will save you many times our consultation fee and only an independent consultant is likely to point them out, as the commission payments to agents are often lower. Unless you have an in depth knowledge of Florida identifying these locations is fraught with difficulties, given all areas are given a positive slant in web sites, adverts, magazines, books etc. |
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of different locations.
|
Depending on your requirements there are significant differences between various areas. As we have no axe to grind and work throughout Florida, we are uniquely placed to guide you through your search. We are unique in not having a financial interest in a particular area or development and offering a service in the UK and Florida to personally go through your options in detail. |
- Why you need to consider different options if you are planning to invest, rent, live in or relocate.
|
The answers are not always obvious from a British perspective. |
|
|
The cost implications including the hidden ones that are sometimes only evident after you have bought. These can be skipped over by agents focusing on the sale or lacking experience. |
- How to identify the actual value of the house before making an offer.
|
This is one of the areas that so many British buyers fall foul of. |
- Strategies to ensure you do not pay more than you should.
|
Often Brits are convinced they have obtained the best deal, however this is not the case. |
- How some agents will seek to persuade you to buy
|
Agents need you to buy if they are to receive a commission, it is important all the implication of this are pointed out. One buyer was shocked to discover an agent had earned $74,000 commission on the house sold to him and still not pointed out important clauses. |
- What you are very unlikely to be told about advertising boards and developers
|
The double commission implications. |
- The reality behind those huge discounts, are they always as they appear?
|
The ones that are genuine and the ones that are not, many Brits get caught out here. |
- The reality of some inspection flights
|
This area alone can save you from making an expensive mistake. We have calculated many Brits save $500 on the cost of flights and accommodation using an inspection flight but pay at least 15% over the going rate on the property they buy - ie they save $500 to overpay $45,000 on a $300,000 house - we explain why. |
- Advantages/Disadvantage of different agents.
|
We have found from our trouble shooting service so many British buyers make significant mistakes in this area. |
- How to identify those Agents with an excellent track record.
|
We maintain client feedback about the licensed Realtors we recommend in Florida to ensure customers receive the best service. |
|
|
This can range from saturated rental areas, through to landfill and much in between! |
- The real bargains in a buyers market
|
Which are very often not identified. |
|
|
What to expect and what to be wary off. |
- What you are not told about new build properties, pros and cons.
|
The scandal of the off plan, new build properties than leave owners high and dry without their deposit. So many Brits fall victim to weasel words and smiles and discover problems when it is too late. |
- What you are not told about resale properties.
|
In certain situations they can be a superb buy, how to track those properties down. However there are properties you should run a mile from. The problem is this information is not normally readily made available; we go through how to track it down. |
- Why some lots need to be avoided.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Why you may end up unwillingly committing perjury, every year hundreds of Brits are caught out by this trap. |
- What you may not be told about the appraisal process
|
The cost implications. |
- The hidden costs of several guaranteed rental schemes.
|
A major area where British buyers get it so wrong. |
|
|
What are the hidden implications and potential costs. |
- Why property taxes are not always what they seem
|
Why you will not see this point mentioned elsewhere. |
- Why certain aspects of the home inspection report are glossed over
|
Why you need to know about them if you are going to avoid ongoing expenditure in the years ahead. |
- The reality of the termite inspection.
|
|
- Legal considerations relating to the house purchase contract
|
The implications of the contract which are often not pointed out. |
- The implications of buying off plan
|
That we have yet to find pointed out by developers or agents. |
- Where are the best investment opportunities in the present climate
|
Often not where investors are shown, this is a key area of the briefing. |
- Getting money over to the USA.
|
What are the pitfalls you need to be aware of. |
- The importance of realising the limitations of closing agents.
|
We point out the areas so often ignored that can cause difficulties after you have bought. |
- The implications of whose name the property is in.
|
Get this wrong and you can lose thousands.We have come across a number of British buyers who did not realise the consequences of getting this point wrong and have incurred substantial tax payments and in one case lost their property due to unforeseen death duties. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The briefings can be carried out in the following formats
Preliminary discussion - On the phone covering the broader points and issues you would like to clarify. No Charge
In Depth Consultation. These can be carried out at various locations on an individual face to face basis when Andrew Bartlett is in the UK
575 Pounds or via telephone when Andrew Bartlett is overseas. 375 Pounds rebated in certain circumstances.
Some buyers give more thought to replacing their washing machine, TV, or computer than buying an overseas property. Spending several hundred thousand pounds on buying an overseas property without spending a few hundred obtaining impartial, independent expert advice defies belief, yet each year many compromise their family’s financial welfare by assuming sales claims are correct. With over 100,000 agents/developers/companies selling property in Florida which companies have an unblemished reputation? Is it sensible to take everything said by a salesperson at face value or spend a few hundred on obtaining an independent opinion?
These consultations save thousands of Pounds, when buying property in Florida, and are a fraction of the price you pay on buying a property.
For an appointment or more information click here.
We have just returned from our first trip to our holiday home in Florida and have been reflecting on how we actually managed to finally buy a place abroad.
We met Andrew Bartlett in September 2007 and spent almost three hours with him discussing the property market in the US. By February 2008 we owned a house in Florida!
Although we have family living in Sarasota and have an Estate Agency business in the UK, it soon became evident that we knew very little about the housing market and the process of buying in the US. At our briefing Andrew guided us through the whole buying process and highlighted key information that was available and that we should be asking for to ensure that we didn’t pay over the market value for the property.
He took the time to find out what our objectives were for buying a home in Florida and helped us come up with a short list of suitable locations which could offer return on investment, rental income and enjoyment for all the family.
Andrew is straight talking and to the point. We immediately felt at ease and that we could trust his judgement of the US housing market. He gave invaluable tips and advice and put us in touch with key people that we felt were working with us to achieve our objective and not just looking for a sale.
Our three hour briefing with Andrew was not the end of our contact with him. He has been readily available via email and the telephone to answer numerous questions and giving advice during the negotiation process, money exchange and even web design and maximising rental opportunities.
Without Andrew we would never have got where we are today with a beautiful house on the Gulf coast of Florida and at a great price too!
Michael and Philippa Oakley Estate Agents Hertfordshire
Hi Andrew
Just a quick note to pass on our heartfelt thanks for helping us with buying a property in Florida.
After meeting you a year ago, we felt far more confident about taking a step towards looking at property. We went out to Sarasota in September and met Darlena and bought a brand new build on the Isles . The property was completed in March and in the meantime the team kept us updated weekly on progress with masses of photos.
We completed by msil with the help of Darlena and her surveyor contacts and then had the whole place furnished through her interior designer contact. We just sat back and chose colours over the internet!
We got our first glimpse of our new home in April and loved it so much we returned again within 4 weeks. We have just returned from our second trip and are already planning our september trip and again thanks to Darlena we are hoping to have a snow bird rental in Jan - March.
The whole thing started with you and the fact that you put us in touch with the most wonderful realtor Darlena.
She in turn has put us in contact with so many excellent people and they are all now firm friends, so much so we all met up to celebrate Terrys 50th earlier in the month.
So as I said a huge thankyou to you for setting us along this route, it has truly changed our lives.
Many Thanks
Terry and Zoe Dixon
We would like to thank you so much for the briefing meeting that we had last year. Your independent advice gave us the confidence to purchase a holiday home in Sarasota, Florida.We decided to buy a holiday home and chose a property in a select location and we are delighted with our investment choice. After receiving your advice we withdrew our original application that was currently going through on a property in Orlando. We now realise that had we proceeded we would have made a dreadful mistake and paid a price that was much too high.
You introduced us to Darlena who acted as our Buyer's Agent. She spent a week with us showing us the sights of Sarasota and various properties. She was a lovely lady who was honest and had a lot of patience when we kept changing our mind! Currently it can be very tempting to look at buying properties in Florida as prices are so low but there are so many things to consider. Mistakes can be easily made which is why we believe that it is so important to get independent advice. We would strongly recommend your services to anyone who is considering buying or selling property in Florida."
We can't wait to visit Sarasota with the family later in the year-(off skiing tomorrow in a cooler climate!)
I'm sure all of the media press is keeping you very busy at the moment.
Chris Wright Chartered Accountant
Hi Andrew,
My husband and I have just returned from beautiful Sarasota and wish to express our gratitude for your invaluable advice in helping us find our dream home. Without your help, the whole process would have been an absolute minefield!
We met with Darlena, following your recommendation, the day after our arrival and what a gem she is! A wonderful lady, warm, friendly and extremely professional. Nothing was a trouble and she made our home buying experience a pleasure.
We viewed several older properties but none matched our criteria so we decided on a new build which is due for completion in June 2008. The whole process from our initial telephone conversations with you, to signing on the dotted line, was straighforward due to the expertise of all involved .
In conclusion, we would once again like to express our thanks to all involved in helping us achieve our dream, particularly yourself and Darlena.
Kind regards
Paul & Jacquie Dingle, Jersey, Channel Islands
Hi Andrew,
Following our recent conversations and subsequent meetings with Darlena, we are pleased to advise you that that Jane and I have now contracted to purchase a house on Palmer Ranch. The property is due for completion in June 2008.
After viewing a number of older properties (most of which were post 2000), we finally decided on a brand new property. Although a number of the older ones were very good in their own right, we felt that this one offered the best value for money and in our preferred location, and although outside our original budget, it was worth pursuing the new home option.
We would like to thank you for all the sound advice that you have provided us with, both at our meeting with you at Glasgow Airport and through our various telephone conversations. Without this advice and information, we would have found the entire buying process extremely difficult and complex and, had we bought without taking this advice, it would have possibly given us many sleepless nights not knowing if we had made the right decisions or not.
We would also like to say that your recommendation to use Darlena as our Realtor was excellent. She was extremely knowledgeable, professional, personable and a joy to work with during the two weeks we were in Sarasota. She made our entire buying experience very straightforward. We felt that by the time we had left for home, she had been a good friend of ours for a lot longer!
As you can imagine, we will be keeping in regular contact with Darlena over the next few weeks and months as our house nears completion.
Our discussions with Stephen Parnell on the mortgage front are still ongoing, but like Darlena, his knowledge and professionalism has been superb.
To facilitate the down payment on our new home, we have now opened a trading account with Moneycorp following a conversation with Laura Dickinson. Again the process was made so much easier through our dealings with both Laura and her colleagues.
Once again, our thanks for all your expertise in making our dream become a reality.
Finally, we know that going forward that we will have many more questions for which we will need an answer. We will be calling or emailing you in the next few weeks, so we trust that this will not be a problem.
With kind regards
Alastair (Ali) and Jane McGowan.
PS. Please feel free to use our experience to help anyone else thinking of buying in Sarasota.
Hi Andrew
We hope that everything is going well with you.
Just to let you know that we are now the proud owners of a 3 bedroomed villa in ........... The property is ideal for the rental market, with a pool and lake view, and came turnkey furnished which was very convenient. We came over to Florida for the closing in June and spent a busy 10 days sorting out everything. We have engaged a management company and there have been two lots of guests staying at the property already, so we are up and running. We are currently working on our website and looking out for marketing opportunities!
We could not have done this without your excellent advice and lots of help from Darlena. What a lovely lady she is! During the buying process it was a great comfort to know that we had support from a number of professional people recommended by you. We have also engaged ...... as our accountant.
Cindy and Peter Lee
Many thanks for the newsletter Andrew - it makes for interesting reading. Below is a quick update on our situation:We spent the last fortnight in Florida where we collected our house keys - we are thrilled with our new home and would be very pleased to recommend the builders . From start to finish they have been superb - very professional and extremeley helpful at every stage - we can't fault them (and I'm always very quick to complain when something isn't right).
I'd also like to recommend our interior designer . She was recommended to us via and she is outstanding. We are still in the process of working with her to furnish our hme but as we have been given so many contacts from yourself and other Brits we would like to be able to reciprocate by offering her details. She is happy for anyone to contact her We hope that we will be hearing from Lincoln, re our visa by end of the month - will let you know!|
Jane and Brian
The recommendation of ............. from Andrew Bartlett proved to be first rate. We were initially contacted by Samantha who became our Buyers Agent, and friend. She knows her stuff, which you think should be expected, but from speaking to many others it is not. She answers questions clearly and based her extensive knowledge of her market. After lots of emails we visited Orlando from London to view a group of properties selected by Sam - the day was superb and we concluded with an offer on a place which was accepted.
Andrew and Caroline Acon.
Andrew,
Just to keep you updated. We put in an offer on the property in Palma Sola Park via Darlena and the offer was accepted.The closing date is this Friday.
I must tell you that Darlena has been absolutely wonderful and extremely efficient. We couldn’t have done it without her. She spent so much time with me when I was over in November and really guided me through the process. It was quite frightening as I was doing all this without Jon being there, but Darlena really put my mind at ease. She has kept us updated all the way through and dealt with any queries or problems that we have had. I can certainly recommend her to anyone who needs a realtor. I would also like to thank you for your recommendation.
We are going over on the 28th December as Jon hasn’t seen the house yet (he’s very trusting!!) We are only over on a flying visit as we have to be in work by the 3rd January. The property is in excellent condition .
Alison Clifton
I thought that you might be interested in how we got on on our recent shopping trip to Florida. Well we managed to buy a really nice home and are really pleased with the deal we got (fixed at $2.024 and $120k off the original listing price - we couldn't say no really!).We found our session with you invaluable and gave us alot of confidence. Darlena was great and made everything really easy when we were there (if only it were as easy in the UK!). Money Corp have performed really well and I think we have received good rates.
Lisbeth MacMillan
'As you know Andrew before calling you in we were all set for an inspection trip with .... after going though all the options we you we changed our mind followed your recommendations and now own a great second home in Orlando at 30% less than we would have paid using...
The agents you recommended were very good - in sharp contrast to the ones we originally came across at an exhibition who continue to pressurise and phone us six months later! We had forgotten the refund back from you, so that was an added bonus - a great briefing and at no cost, very unusual in this day and age. Many thanks.'Tim and Jane Hammond.
'We already owned a house in Florida but decided before buying a further property we would seek a second opinion. At first we were somewhat hesitant about paying a fee for this, but after our briefing with you we wished we had obtained your opinion first time round.
Your briefing was fantastic value for money and saved us a lot! I had not realised that we had indirectly paid our first agent over $75,000 commission, in fact talking to friends who had also bought in Florida none had realised the implications of the commission payments made to agents over there.
Thanks for finding us Paula who sold our Orlando property so efficiently and also Glenda in Tampa who made sure we did not repeat our mistakes again. You have a great service and we will sing your praises to all and sundry! '- Charles and Jan Pryce.
' When we bought our house in Florida, Andrew Bartlett"s service was invaluable in tracking down the perfect place.
Previously we had been all over the place and although making clear to the sales people we were just trying to evaluate the options were still constantly pressurized to buy, by various sales agents.
It was Andrews briefing that made all the difference providing us with all the necessary information in a way that made sense of everything. His briefing really is outstanding value and covers so many points that never even crossed our minds.
Andrews’s knowledge and help was excellent, he was the consummate professional, understood our requirements and ensured we only looked at houses that fitted our specification.
His knowledge of how the process works in the UK and the US was invaluable, and what could have been a very confusing process, was made so much easier by his expertise and advice. We would definitely recommend Andrew ' - John and Shelia Knight
'We had long dreamt of our own property to escape to somewhere in Florida. After going round various exhibitions and hearing so many completely different claims we were totally confused. Thank goodness we read your article in Florida magazine and looked up your web site.The briefing was fantastic value, all our points answered patiently and clearly and your introduction to Kathy in Naples was spot on - she was superb. We not only bought our dream house, we found the ideal location and again many thanks for always responding to all our queries' - The MacDonald family.
'Having heard horror stories from friends who had bought property in Orlando through an inspection trip and clearly regretted the experience and a work colleague who read the books, decided to do their own thing and are now seeking your help to get them out of the mess, (the British company who sold them a property off plan has still not built it three years later and when they threatened to go to the press the company stated it would sue for slander) we were very wary about the whole Florida property scene.All that changed after our meeting with you - very much a case of three hours worth their weight in gold. You were the only expert we came across that really was truly independent, no agenda, just the facts including the negative ones. We really appreciated all the points and tips you went through and the proof of the pudding is our home in Orlando has exceeded our best expectations - many,many thanks.'
Joy and Harry Rodgers
After all the sales buff we had received from various companies we were really confused as to if the villas at Regal were really such a good bargain as they appeared. Thank goodness we got together with you and discovered the reality of whats happening at the moment. It is worrying how easy it is to fall victim to the glossy sales pitch and well worth your fee many times over to get a realistic picture of both the property market in Florida and our plans for the future. Many thanks and enjoy your trip back.
Geoff Hughes.
'Thanks for the briefing Andrew it was a big help. We both thought we were pretty clued up as we had spent quite a number of holidays in Florida over the past few years but still found ourselves confused and pressurised by the various Agents we had approached for information. The session with you made matters very clear and thank goodness you pointed out the complaints against ---- and ----------, as we had their brochures at the top of our list. Can you give us a ring to clarify the property tax position you mentioned.'
Ashley and Laura Cole.
For more comments from previous clients who have used our services - click here
Andrew Bartlett an acknowledged expert on property trends and relocation in Florida, writes articles and answers readers’ questions for several British publications including Florida Magazine, Escape Magazine, Place in the Sun, Homes Worldwide, Sunday Times, America, and The Red guide to buying Property in America and is regularly consulted by journalists and broadcasters. His consumer web guides have received numerous accolades.
www.MyFloridaUpdate.com
www.AndrewBartlettFlorida.co.uk
www.BritishFloridian.com
Andrew was a Senior British Government Official for 20 years before relocating to Florida several years ago, where he was headhunted to set up specialist British property and relocation teams for America’s largest estate agents Coldwell Banker and Remax.
He then established a uniquely impartial and independent relocation and property-briefing company working between Britain and Florida. He has written a number of watchdog style articles on overseas property and emigration selling techniques, and advises City investment companies on the Florida property market, and British companies relocating staff to America.
|
